BS EN 60079-11:2012

This standard BS EN 60079-11:2012 Explosive atmospheres is classified in these ICS categories:

• 29.260.20 Electrical apparatus for explosive atmospheres
• 13.230 Explosion protection

This part of IEC 60079 specifies the construction and testing of intrinsically safe apparatus intended for use in an explosive atmosphere and for associated apparatus, which is intended for connection to intrinsically safe circuits which enter such atmospheres.

This type of protection is applicable to electrical equipment in which the electrical circuits themselves are incapable of causing an explosion in the surrounding explosive atmospheres.

This standard is also applicable to electrical equipment or parts of electrical equipment located outside the explosive atmosphere or protected by another Type of Protection listed in IEC 60079-0, where the intrinsic safety of the electrical circuits in the explosive atmosphere may depend upon the design and construction of such electrical equipment or parts of such electrical equipment. The electrical circuits exposed to the explosive atmosphere are evaluated for use in such an atmosphere by applying this standard.

The requirements for intrinsically safe systems are provided in IEC 60079-25.

This standard supplements and modifies the general requirements of IEC 60079-0, except as indicated in Table 1. Where a requirement of this standard conflicts with a requirement of IEC 60079-0, the requirements of this standard shall take precedence.

If requirements in this standard are applicable to both intrinsically safe apparatus and associated apparatus the term “apparatus” is used throughout the standard.

This standard is for electrical equipment only; therefore the term “equipment” used in the standard always means “electrical equipment”.

If associated apparatus is placed in the explosive atmosphere, it shall be protected by an appropriate Type of Protection listed in IEC 60079-0, and then the requirements of that method of protection together with the relevant parts of IEC 60079-0 also apply to the associated apparatus.

Table 1

Applicability of specific clauses of IEC 60079-0

Clause or subclause of IEC 60079-0			IEC 60079-0 clause application to IEC 60079-11
			Intrinsically safe apparatus		Associated apparatus
Ed. 5.0 (2007) (informative)	Ed. 6.0 (2011) (informative)	Clause / Subclause title (normative)	Group I and Group II	Group III
1	1	Scope	Applies	Applies	Applies
2	2	Normative references	Applies	Applies	Applies
3	3	Terms and definitions	Applies	Applies	Applies
4	4	Equipment grouping	Applies	Applies	Applies
4.1	4.1	Group I	Applies	Excluded	Applies
4.2	4.2	Group II	Applies	Excluded	Applies
4.3	4.3	Group III	Excluded	Applies	Applies
4.4	4.4	Equipment for a particular explosive atmosphere	Applies	Applies	Applies
5.1	5.1	Environmental influences	Applies	Applies	Applies
5.1.1	5.1.1	Ambient temperature	Applies	Applies	Applies
5.1.2	5.1.2	External source of heating or cooling	Applies	Applies	Applies
5.2	5.2	Service temperature	Applies	Applies	Applies
5.3.1	5.3.1	Determination of maximum surface temperature	Applies	Applies	Excluded
5.3.2.1	5.3.2.1	Group I electrical equipment	Applies	Excluded	Excluded
5.3.2.2	5.3.2.2	Group II electrical equipment	Applies	Excluded	Excluded
5.3.2.3	5.3.2.3	Group III electrical equipment	Excluded	Applies	Excluded
5.3.3	5.3.3	Small component temperature for Group I or Group II electrical equipment	Applies	Excluded	Excluded
6.1	6.1	General	Applies	Applies	Applies
6.2	6.2	Mechanical strength of equipment	Excluded except when 6.1.2.3a) is applied	Excluded except when 6.1.3 a) is applied.	Excluded except when 6.1.2.3a) is applied
6.3	6.3	Opening times	Excluded	Excluded	Excluded
6.4	6.4	Circulating currents in enclosures (e.g. of large electrical machines)	Excluded	Excluded	Excluded
6.5	6.5	Gasket retention	Excluded except when 6.1.2.3a)is applied	Excluded except when 6.1.3 a) is applied.	Excluded except when 6.1.2.3a) is applied
6.6	6.6	Electromagnetic and ultrasonic radiating equipment	Applies	Applies	Excluded
7.1.1	7.1.1	Applicability	Excluded except when 6.1.2.3a) is applied	Excluded except when 6.1.3 a) is applied.	Excluded except when 6.1.2.3a) is applied
7.1.2	7.1.2.1	Specification of materials	Excluded except when 6.1.2.3a) is applied	Excluded except when 6.1.3 a) is applied.	Excluded except when 6.1.2.3a) is applied
7.1.3	7.1.2.2	Plastic materials	Excluded except when 6.1.2.3a) is applied	Excluded except when 6.1.3 a) is applied.	Excluded except when 6.1.2.3a) is applied
7.1.4	7.1.2.3	Elastomers	Excluded except when 6.1.2.3a) is applied	Excluded except when 6.1.3 a) is applied.	Excluded except when 6.1.2.3a) is applied
7.2	7.2	Thermal endurance	Excluded except when 6.1.2.3a) is applied	Excluded except when 6.1.3 a) is applied.	Excluded except when 6.1.2.3a) is applied
7.3	7.3	Resistance to light	Excluded except when 6.1.2.3a) is applied	Excluded except when 6.1.3 a) is applied.	Excluded except when 6.1.2.3a) is applied
7.4	7.4	Electrostatic charges on external non-metallic materials	Applies	Applies	Excluded
NR	7.5	Accessible metal parts	Applies	Applies	Excluded
7.5	NR	Threaded holes	Excluded except when 6.1.2.3a) is applied	Excluded except when 6.1.3 a) is applied.	Excluded except when 6.1.2.3a) is applied
8.1	8.1	Material composition	Applies	Applies	Excluded
8.1.1	8.2	Group I	Applies	Excluded	Excluded
8.1.2	8.3	Group II	Applies	Excluded	Excluded
8.1.3	8.4	Group III	Excluded	Applies	Excluded
8.2	NR	Threaded holes	Excluded except when 6.1.2.3a) is applied	Excluded except when 6.1.3 a) is applied.	Excluded except when 6.1.2.3a) is applied
9	9	Fasteners	Excluded	Excluded	Excluded
10	10	Interlocking devices	Excluded	Excluded	Excluded
11	11	Bushings	Excluded	Excluded	Excluded
12	12	Materials used for cementing	Excluded except when 6.1.2.3a) is applied	Excluded except when 6.1.3 a) is applied.	Excluded except when 6.1.2.3a) is applied
13	13	Ex Components	Applies	Applies	Applies
14	14	Connection facilities and termination compartments	Excluded	Excluded	Excluded
15	15	Connection facilities for earthing or bonding conductors	Excluded	Excluded	Excluded
16	16	Entries into enclosures	Excluded except when 6.1.2.3a) is applied	Excluded except when 6.1.3 a) is applied.	Excluded except when 6.1.2.3a) is applied
17	17	Supplementary requirements for rotating machines	Excluded	Excluded	Excluded
18	18	Supplementary requirements for switchgear	Excluded	Excluded	Excluded
19	19	Supplementary requirements for fuses	Excluded	Excluded	Excluded
20	20	Supplementary requirements for plugs, socket outlets and connectors	Excluded	Excluded	Excluded
21	21	Supplementary requirements for luminaires	Excluded	Excluded	Excluded
22	22	Supplementary requirements for caplights and handlights	Modified	Modified	Excluded
23.1	23.1	General	Applies	Applies	Applies
23.2	23.2	Batteries	Excluded	Excluded	Excluded
23.3	23.3	Cell types	Applies	Applies	Applies
23.4	23.4	Cells in a battery	Applies	Applies	Applies
23.5	23.5	Ratings of batteries	Applies	Applies	Applies
23.6	23.6	Interchangeability	Applies	Applies	Applies
23.7	23.7	Charging of primary batteries	Applies	Applies	Applies
23.8	23.8	Leakage	Applies	Applies	Applies
23.9	23.9	Connections	Applies	Applies	Applies
23.10	23.10	Orientation	Applies	Applies	Applies
23.11	23.11	Replacement of cells or batteries	Applies	Applies	Applies
23.12	23.12	Replaceable battery pack	Applies	Applies	Applies
24	24	Documentation	Applies	Applies	Applies
25	25	Compliance of prototype or sample with documents	Applies	Applies	Applies
26.1	26.1	General	Applies	Applies	Applies
26.2	26.2	Test configuration	Applies	Applies	Applies
26.3	26.3	Tests in explosive test mixtures	Applies	Applies	Applies
26.4.1	26.4.1	Order of tests	Excluded except when 6.1.2.3a) is applied	Excluded except when 6.1.3 a) is applied.	Excluded except when 6.1.2.3a) is applied
26.4.1.1	26.4.1.1	Metallic enclosures, metallic parts of enclosures and glass parts of enclosures	Excluded except when 6.1.2.3a) is applied	Excluded except when 6.1.3 a) is applied.	Excluded except when 6.1.2.3a) is applied
26.4.1.2	26.4.1.2	Non-metallic enclosures or non-metallic parts of enclosures	Excluded except when 6.1.2.3a) is applied	Excluded except when 6.1.3 a) is applied.	Excluded except when 6.1.2.3a) is applied
26.4.1.2.1	26.4.1.2.1	Group I electrical equipment	Excluded except when 6.1.2.3a) is applied	Excluded	Excluded except when 6.1.2.3a) is applied
26.4.1.2.2	26.4.1.2.2	Group II and Group III electrical equipment	Excluded except when 6.1.2.3a) is applied	Excluded except when 6.1.3 a) is applied.	Excluded except when 6.1.2.3a) is applied
26.4.2	26.4.2	Resistance to impact	Excluded except when 6.1.2.3a) is applied	Excluded except when 6.1.3 a) is applied.	Excluded except when 6.1.2.3a) is applied
26.4.3	26.4.3	Drop test	Applies	Applies	Excluded except when 6.1.2.3a) is applied
26.4.4	26.4.4	Acceptance criteria	Applies	Applies	Excluded except when 6.1.2.3a) is applied
26.4.5	26.4.5	Degree of protection (IP) by enclosures	Applies	Applies	Applies
26.5.1.1	26.5.1.1	General	Applies	Applies	Excluded
26.5.1.2	26.5.1.2	Service temperature	Modified	Modified	Modified
26.5.1.3	26.5.1.3	Maximum surface temperature	Modified	Modified	Modified
26.5.2	26.5.2	Thermal shock test	Excluded except when 6.1.2.3a) is applied	Excluded except when 6.1.3 a) is applied.	Excluded except when 6.1.2.3a) is applied
26.5.3	26.5.3	Small component ignition test (Group I and Group II)	Applies	Excluded	Excluded
26.6	26.6	Torque test for bushings	Excluded	Excluded	Excluded
26.7	26.7	Non-metallic enclosures or non-metallic parts of enclosures	Excluded except when 6.1.2.3a) is applied	Excluded except when 6.1.3 a) is applied.	Excluded except when 6.1.2.3a) is applied
26.8	26.8	Thermal endurance to heat	Excluded except when 6.1.2.3a) is applied	Excluded except when 6.1.3 a) is applied.	Excluded except when 6.1.2.3a) is applied
26.9	26.9	Thermal endurance to cold	Excluded except when 6.1.2.3a) is applied	Excluded except when 6.1.3 a) is applied.	Excluded except when 6.1.2.3a) is applied
26.10	26.10	Resistance to light	Excluded except when 6.1.2.3a) is applied	Excluded except when 6.1.3 a) is applied.	Excluded except when 6.1.2.3a) is applied
26.11	26.11	Resistance to chemical agents for Group I electrical equipment	Excluded except when 6.1.2.3a) is applied	Excluded	Excluded
26.12	26.12	Earth continuity	Excluded	Excluded	Excluded
26.13	26.13	Surface resistance test of parts of enclosures of non-metallic materials	Applies	Applies	Excluded
26.15	26.14	Measurement of capacitance	Applies	Applies	Excluded
NR	26.15	Verification of ratings of ventilating fans	Excluded	Excluded	Excluded
NR	26.16	Alternative qualification of elastomeric sealing O-rings	Excluded except when 6.1.2.3a) is applied	Excluded except when 6.1.3 a) is applied.	Excluded except when 6.1.2.3a) is applied
27	27	Routine tests	Applies	Applies	Applies
28	28	Manufacturer’s responsibility	Applies	Applies	Applies
29	29	Marking	Applies	Applies	Applies
30	30	Instructions	Applies	Applies	Applies
Annex A (Normative)	Annex A (Normative)	Supplementary requirements for cable glands	Excluded	Excluded	Excluded
Annex B (Normative)	Annex B (Normative)	Requirements for Ex Components	Applies	Applies	Applies
Annex C (Informative)	Annex C (Informative)	Example of rig for resistance to impact test	Applies	Applies	Excluded except when 6.1.2.3a) is applied
Annex D (Informative)	NR	Alternative risk assessment method encompassing “equipment protection levels” for Ex equipment	Applies	Applies	Applies
Annex E (Informative)	Annex D (Informative)	Motors supplied by converters	Excluded	Excluded	Excluded
NR	Annex E (Informative)	Temperature rise testing of electric machines	Excluded	Excluded	Excluded
NR	Annex F (Informative)	Guideline flowchart for tests of non-metallic enclosures or non-metallic parts of enclosures (26.4)	Excluded except when 6.1.2.3a) is applied	Excluded except when 6.1.3 a) is applied.	Excluded except when 6.1.2.3a) is applied
Applies – This requirement of IEC 60079-0 is applied without change. Excluded – This requirement of IEC 60079-0 does not apply. Excluded except – This requirement of IEC 60079-0 does not apply except when the conditions stated are met. Modified – This requirement of IEC 60079-0 is modified as detailed in this standard. NR – No requirements.
NOTE The clause numbers in the above table are shown for information only. The applicable requirements of IEC 60079-0 are identified by the clause title which is normative. This table was written against the specific requirements of IEC 60079-0, ed. 6.0. The clause numbers for the previous edition are shown for information only. This is to enable the General requirements IEC 60079-0, ed. 5.0, to be used where necessary with this part of IEC 60079. Where there were no requirements, indicated by NR, or there is a conflict between requirements, the later edition requirements take precedence.